The European maritime area is one of Europe’s most important assets with regard to resources, security and ultimately prosperity of the Member States. A significant part of Europe’s economy relies directly or indirectly on it. It is not just the shipping or fisheries industries and their related activities. It is also shipbuilding and ports, marine equipment and offshore energy, maritime and coastal tourism, aquaculture, submarine telecommunications, blue biotech and the protection of the marine environment. The European maritime area faces several risks and threats posed by unlawful activities, such as drugs trafficking, smuggling, illegal immigration, organised crime and terrorism. Piracy in international waters also constitutes a threat to Europe since it can disrupt the maritime transport chain. These risks and threats can endanger human lives, marine resources and the environment, as well as significantly disrupt the transport chain and global and local security. It is anticipated that these risks and threats will endure in the mid and long run. In order to keep Europe as a world leader in the global maritime economy, an effective integrated/interoperable, sustainable maritime surveillance system and situational awareness are needed.
A significant number of unlawful maritime activities, such as illegal immigration, drugs trafficking, smuggling, piracy and terrorism involve mainly small boats, because small boats are faster and more difficult to detect using conventional means. Hence, it is very important to find out the feasibility of using Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) for small boat detection, tracking, classification and identification, as well as to study the potential of UAS for maritime surveillance. Since 2010 the EC-JRC has carried out a number of UAS maritime surveillance campaigns to study the potential of UAS for maritime surveillance, in particular for small boat detection. This report presents the results and conclusions of the JRC – Elbit Systems Coupled UAS and Spaceborne SAR campaign carried out in Dec. 2010 in Haifa, Israel.